the one that came back
by You are my Math
Summary: After meeting her for the first time in twenty-three lifetime years, her first words to me were short, sweet, and delicate, "I win." 100 days with your soulmate. AU. Drabbles.
1. finding you again

_we long for people as much as how we wish to be loved back_

sasusaku

* * *

Twenty-three lifetimes passed by, and her first words to me were short, sweet, and delicate:

"I win."

All my life I have been wondering what would I tell her when I meet her again, would I greet her? Would I say her name as though it hadn't been so long since we last met? Or would I just stand there right in front of her, unknown of what to say to her, as she stands there a few inches away from me.

I gulp as I stand there, unmoved, dazed at the thought of her. She smiles at me, and all I could think of after that is nothing but how could she still even look the same after all these years.

In her eyes, green and bright, I see a reflection of myself. Her smile widens, before I hear her speak again. "Sasuke-kun, it's nice to see you again."

It is that familiar feeling upon hearing my name in her voice that washes me over to know that it really is her that is standing right in front of me.

"What are you saying?"

"I said it's nice seeing you again after so long. Were you hiding yourself from me?" She teases.

I couldn't help but smile on that. "Was I, do you think so?"

She nods happily. "Yeah, it took me so long to find you again."

"Sixteen year old Sakura shouldn't be spending her time looking for her teacher."

She tilts her head to the side, and grins at me. "You say that as if you're not expecting me to be here, Sasuke-kun. Are you waiting for me?"

"I don't." I say, walking past her.

"Some things never changed, huh?" She says, feeling her walking right beside me. "You're still the old Sasuke-kun I knew back then when we were young, and fighting wars." She continues, giggling as she remembers it all.

I throw her a sideway glance. She looks back at me, and smiles. I look away almost instantly as she looks at me. "I'm your teacher." I remind her.

"That doesn't make some sense, you know that?"

"Mhmm…"

"I was your wife before all of these happened."

"Mhmm…"

"And then we had a beautiful daughter, you named her after a salad because you love tomatoes, and you taught her how to say papa when I was away, and she was a papa's girl, and Sasuke-kun…?"

I look down at her, and see her already looking up at me.

"Were you smiling just now?" She teases, locking her arm with my own. I look away from her. "Did you miss me?"

Feeling her head leaning on my arm, I turn my head to the opposite direction. "You don't have to be embarrassed in front of me, I was your wife."

"Not yet." Before I have the audacity to hear what I have just said, I could already feel her grinning at me. I feel my stomach sinks in, and my chest tightens in my own words. How could she still even has this effect on me—

There is a heavy silence filtering in the air for a second there, before I hear her laugh. "Wouldn't get to imagine that I would live to see how much you still wish I am your wife again." I feel her untangles her arm from me, and I turn to look at her again.

I don't know if Sakura would kiss me, as a matter of fact, I doubt if she ever will. But for a chance like this, as she stands there after I waited for her for so long I could never imagine, I don't want to miss the moment if it ever comes. She looks at me, and before I bend down to kiss the top of her head, she tiptoes, leans her hands on my shoulders, and leaves a chaste kiss on my cheek.

When she pulls away, she whispers, "I'm sorry you waited so long. Happy birthday."

Before I could even say a word, she runs down at the football field, grinning as she looks back at me.

Seriously, that girl—

"Annoying isn't it, Sasuke-kun?"

—is really annoying…

I smirk.


	2. first thing's first

_when you meet your soul mate in a different lifetime,_

 _what do you want to tell them first?_

 _sasusaku_

* * *

Sakura has always been so persistent.

That is one thing to know, and that is one thing to remember. Her notions when it comes to soul mates, reincarnation, and all of those have brought me to believe that maybe they are true. And true to form, twenty-three lifetimes of going back and forth to this world had proved enough for me to believe that soul mates do exist.

I take a quick glance at her seated idly in the dining, as I fix the button on my sleeve. It had been exactly two weeks since the incident of meeting her on the day of my birthday happened. I walk down the hall to the kitchen, and see her writing marks on her wrist.

"What are you doing?" I say.

She didn't reply on that. So, I peek at what she is writing on her wrist. I unbutton my sleeve again, and see the same mark of what she had written on her wrist on mine. I sigh, buttoning it thereafter.

"You don't have to do that."

"Why?" She says, not even looking at me.

"I don't see the necessity of this to you."

The concept of what is written in her hands or wrists whether it is a sign or a mark would also appear on mine, and vice versa is something I consider new to me. Since we met, she told me how it is even possible to leave a mark to each other's arm.

It is a one way to communicate, and only triggers if you get to meet your other half, she told me.

"These are like magic wedding rings, only in scribbled type."

I sigh in defeat, and snatch the pen from her. "This has to stop Sakura. Stop being so annoying."

She stands up, and reaches the pen from me. "I know you've done quite a great job fooling around while you wait for me."

I raise a brow at her.

"I said you're fooling around."

I didn't exactly know what is going on inside her mind or what exactly did I do for her to pull something that could trigger her to think that I was fooling around while she was away from nowhere. But one thing is for sure, when she looks at me the way she does right now, I know that I see a vision of what she was, and what she still is; remnants of what we were in the past.

I try so hard not to smirk, as she glares at me. "You can't scare me like that anymore, Sasuke-kun."

"What? I'm not trying anything."

"Enforcing your self-proclaimed authority over me by glaring at me, ha!"

I chuckle, "I don't."

"Give my pen back. You think I didn't notice how close you were with that redhead?" She says, looking away. "Kind of reminds me of how you chose a certain redhead way back before." She stops, glances back at me as if realization finally hits her. "Was that on purpose? Do you have thing for redheads?"

I poke her forehead. "You're annoying." I say not really meaning it. "I can't go to work if you continue to be like this."

"Okay fine. But you still can't scare me away."

"Probably not," I say, shrugging, as I walk back to the living room. "But I can make you repeat the same grade again."

I couldn't help but smirk when I heard her loud footsteps on the wood following after me. She hops in front of me, hands on her hips. I look at her small figure wearing her sailor uniform, glaring right at me. "I can't believe. What a desperate move, Sasuke-kun!"

I walk past her, ignoring her.

"Fine! I'll stop."

I turn to take a glimpse of her, and sigh. I walk back to her again, and stand a few inches away from her. With hands on my pockets, I release a defeated sigh. "Sakura," I begin. "That was lifetimes ago, how sharp is your memory?"

"As sharp as how you knocked me down after you said thank you," she glares even more at me. "Don't try to knock me down again, I swear."

"What?" I say, bemused to see how she tries to keep a good amount of distance away from me.

"Don't dare."

"I'm not even trying."

"Then why are you leaning?"

"I don't know, am I?"

"I swear! I'm calling the principal if something ever happens to me—"

I drop my head to kiss her on the forehead, completely shutting her off from what she was about to say next. As I pull away, I see her at a loss for words.

"I hope you also never forget why I married you the last time."


	3. flowers, and first date

_suspicion lies on the stolen glances we give to the person_

sasusaku

* * *

 _x._

 **She went to my apartment** without my consent, holding that single flower on one hand, and a bento on the other. I sighed in defeat. Even without chakra—like I used to have before—I have expected her to come and to intrude me again.

Grinning, she blurted out excitedly, "good morning, Sasuke-kun! I made you a bento. Let's go on a date."

I raised my brow. Not that I care, but: "it's Sunday." I flatly replied.

She beamed, tilting her head to the side. "All the reason there is to go on a date then. But before that, let's go to church first, shall we, Sasuke-kun?"

What is the point of starting an argument? She doesn't take no for an answer anyway. I sighed in defeat, and walked back inside of my apartment. She took the hint, and invited her way in the small living room. "Sorry for intruding," she mumbled absently.

"I'm used to it." I proceeded to get her a glass of water.

"Mhm? This is my first time of visiting you here, Sasuke-kun. Your couch looks expensive, and...very blue."

I gave her a look, as I placed a glass of water on the table. But the only thing she'd given me was a smile, like always. "I'll go change first." I dropped the topic, and went to my room.

"Take your time, dear."

I cringed. But ignored it wisely beneath, shutting the door behind me with a thud. After a few minutes of changing to casual clothes, I went out. "Teacher and student shouldn't be dating." I started.

"Aren't we all humans here, Sasuke-kun?" She stood up, and gave me a pat on the arm, "as always you look charming, shall we go now?" She locked arms with mine, giggling happily beside me. "Do you know what makes this day extra special?—" she didn't let me say a word, "—this would be our first time going out there, and thanking God for letting us find each other again."

Made sense. "See, you're smiling again." She stated, turning the knob.

I looked away from her, but somehow, I didn't want to refrain myself from saying this to her: "I thanked Him every time I remember you."

"Cheesy, Sasuke-kun, very cheesy," she teased, and I looked down to see her handing me the small flower from before. "For you. This is a daffodil, I've always wanted to give this to you back on that time when you snuck out of the hospital."

I remembered. "Aa,"

"Very monosyllabic,"

I smirked. "...thanks." Then I halted in the middle of the pavement, prompting her to follow. I reached for her flower on her hand, "just keep this with you, teachers aren't supposed to accept something from their students." I slid the flower on her left ear. She stared at me - wide green eyes. For some reason, I nearly lost my breath after seeing her like that.

I immediately looked away from her. So she pounded me. "You just made me look ridiculous, didn't you, Sasuke-kun?"

Burying my hands on my pockets, I slid past her. There's no way I would tell her the otherwise.

She chased me. "Didn't you?" She stressed.

I ignored her.

She sneered in disbelief, dropping the topic off.

"One of these days, you'd wish to have said more than not."

And it might have been my imagination, but her bright expression dropped down from that second.

"That won't happen." I muttered, watching her still.

She lifted up again, and just like that she gave me one of those smiles she'd given me back from the beginning of the chūnin exam—a feigned smile at that. "Yeah, that won't happen. That's a promise, Sasuke-kun!" She said, as she hopped in front of me, twirling her white dress skirt.

I wondered what happened before we met again one month ago. I couldn't cipher through her words. And her smile was feigned. I just knew something wasn't right.

However, none of those could explain how mesmerised I was at the sight before me—she looked like an _angel_.


	4. forehead kisses

_Note : this isn't really what I'm currently working on since I have my "Welcome to Reality!" under construction. (But yes, the one who came back is a multi chapter story in a drabble form, meaning I really intended it to be just short and have a minimum of 500 words, but either way, thanks for all the reviews I get.)_

* * *

 _being impulsive gives you two inevitable outcomes—_

 _either the good things or the worst of the worst_

sasusaku

* * *

 _x._

 **Twenty-three times of going** back and forth proved that maybe I am already close to my quietus. One month ago, what I only intended to was to submit my resume for an application - I didn't intend to get myself tangled to a sudden rendezvous with a very, very familiar woman of the past; who turned out to be, my future student, too.

Last week, she brought me to the cemetery...of all the places to consider - cemetery. She found comfort next to the cemented grave of somebody else, as she spread a blanket on the ground next to it. And then she talked about the stars with me. We spent a night there together.

Yesterday, she gave me another bouquet of daffodils, and made a lunch for me.

And today was something I had already expected. "I'm sorry, Sasuke-kun. We've been caught."

I didn't press on the matter. "Don't be, I should've known of this from the start."

"But the pictures..."

"Don't be bothered by it." I reached forth to caress her cheek, "I'll protect you."

She held my hand that was on her cheek, and frowned at me. "Are you mad at me?" She started. "Annoying again, aren't I?"

I sighed, closing my eyes for a moment. But once I opened it again, I found anchor to her green eyes staring worriedly at me. I tucked her hair behind her ear, "you will always be annoying. You just made me lose my only job, Sakura—"

"I'm sorry."

"—but shouldn't you be happy, I could hold your hand now?"

Her expression wasn't anything close to her smiling face, all that there was in her was guilt, pursued lips, and meeting brows, but when I leaned more to soothe her, she eventually sighed and complied. Her lips drew to a soft smile - looking genuine, sincere, glad, and: "I could kiss you." I whispered out. I couldn't help myself from saying it.

Her soft smile widened a fraction, as she closed her eyes, showing a little compliance. She forwarded a little to the table, enclosing the proximity, and waited for me to do the rest.

I smirked; I couldn't careless if we were on public, or in a fast food—I studied her face for a brief moment, before I bent down to her. But instead of going to her lips like what she might have been expecting, I hovered to her forehead, and gave her a kiss. When I pulled away, she looked at me.

"Sasuke-kun?"

"Hmm?" I tended her confusion and flustered expression.

"I thought..." She trailed off, hesitating. I almost wanted to laugh at her flushed look. She looked funny.

"What? What happened to your enthusiasm?"

She snapped her head back to me, as if needing to defend herself from that. "I wasn't even enthusiastic at all a while ago. Why are even teasing me? I was really worried about you."

I shook that away dismissively. Slipping past her answer, I continued. "Have you chosen what to eat already?"

"Ah," she turned around to see the menu from up far the counter, before she gaze back at me once again. "Sundae, and fries, Sasuke-kun."

I nodded, "alright." I stood up.

But she pulled my hand halfway, so I looked down at her. Her eyes bored against mine, and then, "I'm really sorry, Sasuke-kun." She mouthed.

I ruffled her hair before I proceed to the counter to order.


	5. for you

_Note : everything will be explained as the story progresses._

 _Sakura's POV_

* * *

 _her sacrifice for his sake is an obstacle_

sasusaku

* * *

 _x._

 **On 23rd of July** , I met Sasuke-kun again.

I had expected that I would meet him again on that time as something on my wrist appeared - a time and an exact date of when to meet him - it happened, I knew soulmates have this sort of time appearing to their wrist suddenly.

I was told to by my _superiors_.

The place of where we would get to cross paths again, however, was the least I expected.

I wasn't told to that he'd be my teacher. But that didn't stop me for pursuing my purpose here of meeting him again. So I approached him, I just knew that he would remember me again. He would - with this pink locks, jade green eyes, of course he won't forget.

Soulmates retain their memories from their past lives. However, on my part, the only _memories_ engraved to my mind was when we were in the lifetime of where being a Hokage is a thing and saving the world is deemed to be the utmost gratification of all - a lifetime of where ninjas exist.

The other _one_ is now - my second life that I begged to have again.

I knew Sasuke-kun have been a wanderer soul in this world. His soul came here for almost twenty-three times of lifetime years already. Can you _imagine_? He had never been permanent of staying there in the afterlife. How could he anyway? I didn't even know the reason, all that I knew was, he was unhinged to his past life that he just kept on coming back, and forth to this world.

So I begged to go back with a very limited time I have. To help him stay to where he should be - sounds familiar? Only, I don't have a loud blond helping me out.

.

.

"This was all your fault! Because of you and your annoying clinginess Uchiha-sensei lost his job!"

"I know, I already said sorry."

"Can your apology even make him get his job back...or even his licence, again?"

There was a clunking sound as I fell down the trash.

"What? Come on stand up! I didn't even push you that hard, _weakling_."

I snapped my head towards my _senpai_ , somehow the _word_ piqued some fresh emotional wounds from before. And then she pulled me by my hair - the tableau felt familiar. "I said stand up, weakling."

She hissed to my ear. "Listen up, from now on we wouldn't sympathise with you! We wouldn't let you have a peaceful life for ruining Uchiha-sensei's life. He was a new teacher here, for pete's sake, he was! And because of your eagerness of pestering him even visiting to his house, he lost everything he's worked hard for. _Tch_. I can't believe Uchiha-sensei was so considerate with you to the point he'd actually tolerate you. I can't believe him." She sneered at me in disbelief.

"This is all your fault, keep that to that empty head of yo—"

I elbowed her. Hard. On the stomach.

Glaring, to her wincing figure on the ground, I spat out. "Well, if you hadn't been so jealous and had those pictures taken by yourself while you stalked us, then maybe, he could've been still here giving you the deserve sanction you must receive after school for bullying your _junior_!"

She looked affronted. "Why you _little_ \- what did you even say to me?" She was about to slap me, but I snatched her arm halfway through.

She glared at me.

I looked at her. "You don't know a thing about Sasuke-kun, don't speak as though you know him."

"Do you?"

I frowned. "I do. I was..." _His wife lifetime of years ago._ "I am his special friend."

I shoved her speechless form backwards, before I walked out the scene, somehow, feeling contented.


	6. familiar words

_What if your other half is awake to the past, and asleep to what is present?_

sasusaku

* * *

 _x._

 **Sakura was acting strange** over the course of our one week vacation - that she dragged me to go to - to Enoshima. She was pretentious at her facades; constantly attempting to start conversations with no connection with the previews one. And though she was annoying, talked quite too much - I was able to discern through her.

After a dinner with her in a restaurant near the shore, she led me to a dance, and whispered to me after a moment of our silent sway to the rhythm of the music: "what would you do if I suddenly disappear one day?"

My hands remained rigid, as I pulled her a little closer to me and gave her a look of skepticism.

What was she even saying? We have been together for a month and a week already since that time she found me. I knew she wouldn't go anywhere. But if she has to be somewhere else, she would tell me first of it.

Granted, but that wasn't seemed the case. "Where will you go?" My voice firm, probing.

She nonchalantly shrugged. "Just somewhere. Far away from this place, you won't know about it, since you're a human." She joked.

I stared at her blankly.

And then she laughed off, mischievously grinning at me. Her fingers found shallow entertainment from tangling through my hair at the back. I frowned at her expression - closing the notion of venturing the cost of what might have been entailed to her words.

"...so what if then, Sasuke-kun. What would you do?"

"What are you saying? You will not go anywhere, Sakura." I flatly replied, dismissing the topic off. If this was her idea of small talk, she lacked the ability to catch me. Since I wouldn't entertain it.

She rolled her eyes. "So what if I had to be somewhere else? What're you gonna do? It's only a hypothetical question, Sasuke-kun. I'm just asking here. Come on, please don't scowl at me like that."

"I'm not scowling." I looked down at her. She was smaller than me. "And, why are you even asking me a hypothetical question?"

My response somehow sparked something to her, as her gaze sequestered elsewhere but mine. She was pouting, but that wouldn't still make me say anything. I sighed in defeat. "I don't see the essence of this small talk of yours, Sakura." I continued. But she ignored me. Her gaze would not meet mine - so I gave in. "I will wait for you to come back."

She lit up instantly. "Even if you don't know where I went to?"

"Even if you're annoying." I stressed out.

She giggled, tiptoed to line on my height, and then: "do you love me, Sasuke-kun?"

For some unknown reason, I felt sudden discomfort in my chest; a pang that I couldn't understand. I stared back at her, as if what she'd said to me was something I had anticipated. I didn't understand why I had reacted to something I supposed to deem precious...

"Aa," I was tentative to her words.

Her expression shifted, a languid teasing smile curled across her lips. "Sasuke-kun," she enclosed forward. "Are you blushing?"

"No." I flatly replied against her attempt to tease me. "Just be quiet, Sakura."

She giggled, happy, contented - obliging, as her hands traveled down to my shoulders - she led the dance. I scrutinised her smile - it was sincere, gentle, almost teasingly playful but beneath it, I knew it weighed more than what she portrayed outwardly, it was as if it hid something I couldn't pinpoint with my calculative skill.

But somehow, none of those questions that nagged me within could ever explain why her simple question of:

 _"do you love me, Sasuke-kun?"_

Felt somewhat familiar to me like of that time lifetime of years ago have passed.


	7. fiftieth day

_Note : I made an exception on this one - almost almost 1k words if it weren't for the quotes I put here and there. _

* * *

_And the heaven and earth switches places when you're with me_

sasusaku

* * *

 _x._

 **"Architecture firm hiring,"** I clicked my pen, and encircled the first paragraph of the last page. Once it was done, I sighed in defeat, leaning on my chair. That was it, the last one on the last page. I glanced down on my watch to check the time: 10:58 pm.

I, then, graced my gaze towards the calendar hanging on the wall across to where I sat. It had been more or less two weeks have passed since I lost my job of a high school teacher because of what had happened. Although I was able to get my licence back after a week - that was one thing I thanked for, otherwise it'd really be a problem for me - things required more efforts now on finding a new job.

I closed my eyes, and just let myself pulled into the complete silence of the room, jabbing my fingers on the temple of my forehead, before opening my eyes once more.

The faint glow on my wrist caught my attention. Slowly, a scribble of which I couldn't decipher started to form around it, I squinted my eyes to inspect it more. Markings of red started to form across. I frowned, if this was Sakura writing on her arm again, I could've sworn to give her a deserved reprimand tomorrow.

Why couldn't she just send a text via her phone instead of this - playing around.

I sighed, as I waited patiently on the words to appear legibly on my arm. I still couldn't grasp the whole essence of this whole thing - and Sakura wasn't even helping any better. If any, her supposed _helpful_ words didn't let me figure more of it. I knew about _my_ going back and forth lifetimes here in Earth.

I knew what happened before - those twenty-three times of lives I've had. But further than that I knew absolutely nothing of—I scowled, the more I probed to the subject, the more I neared to the conclusion that I didn't want to know.

 _ **Fiftieth day**_. It wrote.

I instantly pried myself from leaning backwards to reach for my phone - my first instinct was to call Sakura. What was she implying with this? She was probably goofing around again. Why would she wrote something stupid on her arm again? And why was she still awake, had she forgotten that tomorrow's Monday? Tch, that girl.

I held my phone and dialled her. It was the most reasonable thing to do - to ask her. But halfway through pressing her name on the screen, I stopped to internalise it.

I just realised something. Her words from when we were in Enoshima rung through my mind again.

 _"What would you do if I suddenly disappear one day?"_

Those didn't sit right in me ever since. It sounded sincere...too real for me, given the idea that it was hypothetical.

Even if I tried to bury the thought, I just found myself dwelling more to it. And the written text that appeared on my wrist now, somehow cemented my assumptions that something wasn't really right. Why something as this suddenly appeared, that, unless Sakura was only playing?

I swallowed down the churning void of tinge anxiety that swelled up in my throat, bringing myself to open my desktop to start searching my assumption. I clung to the thought - come to think of it, wasn't it too coincidental to meet her again on the day of my birthday after long years to consider?

She was acting strange over the course of it after. It was absurd to think it off this way but...

 _"Just somewhere. Far away from this place, you won't know about it, since you're a human."_

I pressed on the matter; was that supposed to be a joke only? It was too...bare, clothed in disguise - I doubted it. If she had only intended to break the ice - she wouldn't brought the subject impossible to think of in the first place. She could've said something instead of that, but she chose to open that one.

What was it?

Once I entered what I've written, several theories showed on the screen in front of me. I clicked the first one - I frowned, I couldn't care less about the probability of finding one to nothing. It wouldn't answer most of my questions, I scrolled down searching to look something worthwhile amidst this.

 _While most of us deem the slim possibility of finding that one soul we are destined to be with amidst the fact that there are thousands of people who can be our potential soulmates - the whole idea of finding one is frivolous and absurd; the existence of soulmate - of seeing yourself to the other even if it had been a lifetime already - is not possible to come true._

 _The valid argument of hypothetical reasoning of Metaphysics, however, vary oppositely from what is assumed. The idea of soul mates is an illusion fabricated to satisfy the burning desire of reassuring ones self that, even if the world is cruel as it is now, there are still those souls who are purposely destined to meet the other one._

 _There are different articles that emerged before (decades, centuries, millennia of generations have passed) that substantiate the theories about the mere existence of soulmates resulting for embodied facts. Hence, proved also that instead of soulmates that one could see in front of another, what a person sees when in face to face with the other might be, nonetheless, an impression of a messenger -_

But one lined among all of this had caught me off guard - by the time I realised, I found myself echoing the last words: "an angel..."

I felt my chest ached, somehow realisations hit me. "Sakura...is an angel?"


	8. faltering actions

_this time around, he will be the one that will hug her tight_

sasusaku

* * *

 _x._

 **I slid back my chair** , and jolted from where I was seated. I stared at the monitor, I knew none of these should be considered true as of the moment, but...what did she mean she would...

"Disappear?"

I brought my arm to look at the two words written across it. Would this signify that she would disappear now? I took a glimpse on the time - past eleven in the midnight. And as if in trance of realisation, I reached forth to my calendar to flip it back on the month of July. It had been fifty days since we met, hadn't it?

Does this mean she has to leave now? She wouldn't leave me, would she?

Before I took control of my actions, I bolted out of my apartment. I didn't know why, how, or what led me to respond so carelessly after knowing something important - all I could be certain of was the fact that this could be the last day I'd see her. I felt my breathing became harsh, I was becoming agitated to whatever might happen to her.

How could I not? All she did was to imply about how she might disappear one day without my knowledge. Now, two worded clues suddenly appeared on my wrist... Just who, in the right mind, would feel at ease at that?

I dashed away to the sidewalk to where she lives - four kilometres away from my block, and for some reason I wished that I bought at least a bicycle for things like this. I didn't know there would comes a time that I would actually need one.

"Tch."

If this would really be her last day and...if she had known about this from the start, then why didn't she tell me? I didn't know it'd come to this. What was she planning?

Each seconds that passed had sent my mind to the things I shouldn't be thinking of. What was the point if dwelling to those - when the most important thing to me could be taken away from me in an instant? I felt my knees weakened, the ache on my chest tightened - I couldn't breathe anymore.

But that was not important!

I couldn't care less of myself now that I could already see her apartment few blocks away from here. I pushed myself to run forward, not wanting even the slightest of this chance to slip past me. I needed to know if she had disappeared.

I needed to know if she was okay.

I needed to see her.

I was breathing heavily when I reached her front yard. Everything sounded too quiet - I didn't like it. I turned the knob around to bust myself in. It was lock.

"Sakura." The back of my hand met the hard wood of her door.

When I received no answer, I continued. "Sakura." I half considered breaking the door but that idea was too stupid to even give myself into it. It might attract suspicion, and noise, and I might end up not knowing if she was still behind of that doors. The last thing I wanted to find myself into was to leave without knowing if she was okay.

"Sakura, open this door!"

The door flew open, and a very lethargic Sakura, who probably had gone out resting at this hour already, stood there - yawning, and seemingly...fine. "Sasuke-kun, what are you doing—"

Without having concrete thought as to what I've thrown myself into, I immediately pulled her into my arms. I buried my face into her hair, as she stood there rigidly; completely dumbfounded of what I've just done. I didn't let her go not until I feel my chest ease out again from all these things she'd caused me. I didn't think I'd be able to let her go anytime soon.

"Sasuke-kun," she mumbled against my shoulder. "What is wrong?"

I ignored her. "You seem okay." I breathed out.

"Sasuke-kun, you're...crushing me."

"I..." Not knowing of what words to say, I said the one that first came into my mind: "I miss you."

"We've just met yesterday."

I frowned, bit my lip and realised her words. "Don't leave me again."

And as if she somehow realised what I wanted to say; as if she somehow read through me, she remained calm against my flesh, and eventually, she pulled me close to her. "I won't, Sasuke-kun."

She never said anything more than just that, and somehow, it was enough for me.


End file.
